Utilizing the Social Determinants of Health to Elucidate Malnutrition Risk

Sean Thomas is the Manager of Executive Operations at the National Council on Aging. He is responsible for leading the support for the executive office of NCOA, specifically focused on supporting the integration of all departments and overall oversight for operational and administrative alignment, as well as management of NCOA’s national Board of Directors.

Prior to NCOA, Sean was the Special Assistant and Chief of Staff at the Fashion Institute of Technology Foundation, where he oversaw the advancement initiatives in sustainability, strategic philanthropy, and social impact investment to support the Fashion Institute of Technology’s unique and unconventional heritage.

From 2012 to 2017, Sean served as the Manager of Administration at Safe Kids Worldwide, where he helped develop the strategic direction of the organization by providing oversight of administration and operations and leading the advancement of priority programmatic objectives for child safety initiatives.

Sean has also held various leadership roles at Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, Malaria No More, and Tiffany & Co. He is an inspirational corporate social responsibility leader that has had success guiding and building nonprofit organizations specializing in administration, operations, and board governance and has worked extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Africa on several sustainable health and economic development programs. He is also a former Peace Corps volunteer serving in Kyrgyzstan from 2006-2007.

Sean holds a BA in International Studies from Hawaiʻi Pacific University and an MA in International Affairs from the New School University.

Amy Covington, MS, RDN, CD is currently employed as a Research Director with the University of Utah. She has been a researcher with the University of Utah for five years in nutrition and aging. She is currently a co-investigator on two national grants received from the Administration for Community Living investigating malnutrition among home delivered meal and congregate meal participants. She is currently working on revising a book chapter for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics on malnutrition assessments for older adults. She has presented at numerous regional and national presentations on malnutrition and aging. Her goal is to increase awareness of malnutrition in the aging population to improve quality of life and assist those wishing to age at home.

Susan Saffel-Shrier is a registered dietitian nutritionist, gerontologist and professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine.  Her career focus has been in the field of aging and nutrition particularly the older adult living in the community. Her work has entailed creating teams in clinical, educational and research settings. She has provided numerous state, national and international aging and nutrition presentations. Recently, she was awarded a grant from the Administration on Aging investigating nutritional status among senior center participants.